I just had the pleasure of spending my 3 day MLK weekend in a gymnasium 30 minutes north watching Very Tall Girls Wearing Very Tight Spandex Playing Volleyball (VTGWVTSPV)!!! What a long weekend. Youngest daughter, MCB is on a 14's team, a new team for her, but her 3rd year playing club VB. It's my 6th year of participating in Club VB, some with my older daughter, and some with this one. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that there are a whole lot of girls out there who are REALLY tall, and I and my daughters do not fall in that category. I'm talking about girls whose hips start and my chest and who wear size 10 - 11 shoes. Girls who look down at the white roots at the top of my head. For some reason, I don't remember girls that size when I was growing up. Could it be the hormones that are put in dairy products these days, or is it just that the tallest of females are brought together in one setting all at once, and, so, their heighth is even more dramatically noticeable? Or maybe it's just that where I grew up, in Hawaii, most of the people I knew were smaller since they were Asian? I never felt short; at 5'5", I think I'm a pretty respectable height... for a Chinese woman. But MCB regularly grumbles that it's "my fault" that she's short... about 5'3.5", hence her position as libero is her fate in VB.
But boy, is she fast and scrappy on court, thanks to my giving her good thighs to transport her here and there. And she has great square shoulders, again from me, allowing her to have really strong arms. She made me proud today as she repeatedly hit the ball from behind the 10' line, SLAM! right down on the other side of the court.
Another thing that's so noticeable at these long tournament days is how all the girls wear these very tight spandex, truly uncomfortable inventions, meant to allow freedom of movement, but probably really meant to accentuate the very long legs of the owners wearing these "shorts." The problem, though, is that the girls spend half their time pulling and tugging and stretching these spandex as they try to prevent self-inflicted wedgies. How unlady-like! But they all do it, because those spandex are so tight and short!
6.5 hours Saturday, 5.5 hours Sunday, 6.5 hours Monday... let's see... that's 17.5 hours spent at the gym this week, about a full day of my life, and that doesn't include the drive up and back... about 3 additional hours. My friends probably wonder why I and all the other VB moms and dads do this; why would I ever sacrifice that time and effort for a sport, and not even a sport that I'm playing? Why would I torture myself sitting in those uncomfortable bleachers hour after hour where the only exercise I get is moving from one side of the court to the other during a match as I follow my daughter's team switching sides? Why? Because she likes to play (an acutal quote from MCB); she loves the team cameraderie. Because she achieves so much satisfaction in making that point by making a great serve, or killing the ball from the back row. Because she gets to scream "ACE!" when she or one of her teammates crams the ball down the other side of the court. Because I'm fulfilling my role as parent by encouraging her to become a great VB player and by giving her the best possible opportunity to achieve her goals. That's it... it's so simple. That's why! So I get to have about 4 more years of watching VTGWVTSPVB! Hooray for me!
FANS GOING WILD!!! Just like me!
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